Abstract

At the beginning of World War II, Al Griffiths was priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s Mission in Balbalasang, Kalinga, the Philippine Episcopal Church’s most isolated mission. With the support of Balbalasang’s Chief Puyao, Griffiths helped the miner Walter Cushing organize the first guerrilla resistance to the Japanese in northern Luzon. Their 121st company of guerrillas ambushed the Japanese at Lamonan and inflicted significant casualties. After General Wainwright surrendered on Bataan, Cushing ordered Griffiths to cease his guerrilla efforts. Knowing that the Japanese wanted to capture him, Griffiths and his family, together with the mission nurse Dottie Taverner, went into hiding in the forest. They were captured in March 1943 and interned in Camp Holmes near Baguio and later at the Bilibid Prison in Manila. General MacArthur’s 37th Infantry liberated them in February 1945. In addition to describing early resistance in the Cordillera to the Japanese invasion, this article provides an intimate glimpse of the American colonial experience in the Philippines and its impact on the Tingguian people. It also presents an unexpected portrait of Japanese soldiers and their commanders, defying stereotypes.